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Faith Mission in fiscal pinch as more non-residents seek meals

View SlideshowRequest to buy this photoEric Albrecht | DispatchThe men’s noon meal is popular at Faith Mission’s community kitchen, the only place in the city offering three meals a day, every day. A majority of diners don’t stay in the homeless shelter. Meals served are up 25 percent from a year earlier, and food donations have fallen 24 percent.

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The community kitchen at Faith Mission filled up as usual on Tuesday, with hundreds of people
dining on a hot lunch of sliced beef, baked potatoes and broccoli.

William Wess, 26 years old and neatly dressed, made his way through the food line at the
homeless shelter and sat down with a full plate.

“Before I knew about this, I would go every other day without eating,” he said. “These services
are a blessing.”

Just a few years ago, the kitchen crew at Faith cooked primarily for people who also bedded down
in the shelter at night. But nowadays, more than half of its daily meals — about 55 percent, at
last count — are served to people who are not shelter residents. Many of them, such as Wess, have a
place to live but struggle to cover basic expenses.

Executive Director Sue Villilo said the surge in demand for meals, and a decline in food
donations, make it difficult for Faith to keep up.

In an eight-month period in the current fiscal year compared with the same period in the
previous one, meals served jumped 25 percent, while food donations dropped 24 percent, Villilo
said. Donations of money were about the same.

The agency, a part of Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio, served 326,000 meals last year
and is on pace to pass 400,000 this year. It’s the only place in the city that offers three meals a
day, every day.

“If these trends continue, how long can we sustain what we’re doing?” Villilo said. “There are
no good options. We’re talking about feeding people who are hungry. How do you cut back on
that?"

The agency’s shelters serve only single adults, but people sometimes bring children to the
meals, Villilo said. Last summer “saw a pretty significant increase in the number of kids.”

As long as the food lasts, no one is turned away.

“I do this out of necessity,” said Tracey, a 52-year-old woman who didn’t want her last name
published because of concern about her safety. Tracey stayed at the shelter in the past but now has
a place to live. “I’m stable, and I’m safe, but without this, I’d go hungry,” she said.

Churches regularly support the community kitchen at Faith, but many of them are hard-pressed,
too, Villilo said. “We have churches saying, ‘We’re going to cut back to every other month.’

“Most of our evening meals are serving 500 people. That’s a lot to ask of a church.”

Wess said he’s grateful for the chance to eat at Faith a few times a week. He has child support
to pay, and he makes about $10 an hour at his telemarketing job.

“In this economy, it’s the best I can get,” he said. “I’m not too into politics, but from where
I come from, the lower and middle classes are suffering.”

To donate money to the community kitchen, send checks made out to Faith Mission (with kitchen
noted in the memo line) to Faith Mission, 315 E. Long St., Columbus, 43215. Food deliveries should
be taken to the kitchen at 151 N. 6th St. between 8 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. To donate large quantities,
call ahead to kitchen manager Todd Zwayer at 614-774-7726. On the Web:
www.faithmissionofohio.org.